The Apostle's Creed Series #9

I Believe in the Church
Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 12:1

While I was in seminary I attended a truly loving church. One Sunday evening during prayer time a young girl named "Tina" suddenly stood up and slowly made her way to the front of the sanctuary. Tina was a high-school student, actively involved in the life of our church, from a prominent family in the church, respected by many people, and she had just discovered she was pregnant.

I will never forget what happened that evening as she stood before us weeping. Her broken heart penetrated each word she spoke as she expressed sorrow for what she had done. She was obviously afraid and confused, but her courage impressed me. As she stood in front of the entire congregation seeking forgiveness and asking us to come alongside her as she began a very difficult journey, she risked rejection and condemnation. There was no guarantee that people would accept her after her confession. I suspect she was prepared for the worst but she came to us anyway, hoping that the church would accept her in spite of her failure.

The way that church responded to her became for me a powerful example of what it means to be the church. She finished her confession and admitted that she knew she could not raise her baby alone. Her boyfriend had taken off when he found out she was pregnant and she desperately needed us to love her. She tearfully asked for help.

Instead of acting shocked and disgusted by her actions, those good people lovingly forgave her and committed to love her and her child. That evening I saw a broken person restored by grace and forgiveness, and my understanding of the church changed. I saw a church that acted in a holy, set-apart manner, that was willing to embrace anyone, that had a sweet communion with one another. It was a powerful experience.

This morning I want to look at what the Apostle’s Creed has to say about the church, namely: I believe in the holy, catholic church, the communion of saints..." The words themselves are not all that difficult to understand. To be a saint is to be holy. To be holy is to be set apart, dedicated to God, used as you were intended to be used. This altar, these candles, this sanctuary, is holy, set apart, dedicated to God. The word "catholic" simply means "universal" or "all-inclusive." Our church here in El Dorado is but a small part of the larger church of Jesus Christ, and we are one with believers the world over throughout history.

The church then is to be a deeply loving communion of people set apart and dedicated to God, reaching out to all and embracing all. That evening long ago I saw our church be the church. How about us? Will we be remembered as a church with a beautiful sanctuary and predictable hour-long worship service or will we be remembered as a church dedicated to God, loving one another, embracing all, caring deeply about sharing the love and grace of Jesus with the hurting and lost, no matter the cost?

We are to be a holy, embracing church. As the called out ones of God we weren’t called out from the world to protect and isolate ourselves from the pain and anguish of life. Rather, we were called into the world to offer hope and love and grace to people like Tina who are lost and hurting.

We are also to be a communion of saints. We were meant to be in fellowship with one another, to build each other up, to support one another, to work together in common ministries. Friends, our personal relationship with Christ is of primary importance on our journey of faith. However, our corporate relationship with other believers is absolutely essential if we want to see our faith grow and mature. We need each other; we cannot live out our faith apart from the Church.

Perhaps the best example of authentic Christian community is recorded in Acts 2:42-47 which says, "They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity, all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. Each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved."

As we follow the example of fellowship modeled by the early NT church, our faith will mature and we will learn practical ways of living out God’s love as the Body of Christ. We are to be a communion of God’s saints, his called-out people.

In chapter 11 the writer of Hebrews talks about the unbroken line of God's saints. He mentions Enoch's faith, Noah's ark, Abraham's sacrifice, Moses' leadership, Rahab's testimony. He goes on to talk about the nameless people, the warriors, the martyrs, the disciples, the men and women of the early church who had been willing to live for a cause important enough to die for. Nameless people who knew what God had done for them and strived to live for him no matter what. Because of their efforts, the big ones, the little ones, the everyday ones, we are here now

Now, in Hebrews 12, the writer used a picture from the Greek races to help describe this great communion of saints. Before him was a race track and rising above the track on all sides were the bleachers for the spectators. He and his generation were the ones on the track; they were the runners. And the heroes of the faith? Why, they were the ones filling the bleachers. There they were, looking down upon him and his generation, cheering them on as they ran the race of life in their time. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us..." (Heb.12:1)

Do you see what he is saying? Through their very lives those who have gone before us have given us a faith. We must now continue what they began; we must take our place in that great communion of saints. Its our race now, and the way we run it will determine if our faith will continue in others.

Friends, we're part of something big! Its more than being part of an organization or a movement; we're part of the Church. It started with Abraham and Moses, Deborah and Sampson, Ruth and David, the prophets, Jesus and the disciples, Paul and Apollos, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Martin Luther King, Billy and Ruth Graham, and on and on. But it is also made up of the small, nameless witnesses too, the missionaries and martyrs, your godly parents and grandparents who followed after Christ in their day and time, the Sunday School teachers who inspired you. They are all there in the bleachers, cheering us on in our race through life. "Go on! You can do it! A crown of righteousness awaits you!" Can’t you even now hear them calling us on?

That is the holy, catholic church, the great communion of the saints, my friends. It is what we have been called to be part of. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us..."

Friends, our world is full of people like Tina who are desperate to find a place where they can belong and be loved unconditionally, and the church should be just such a place. What does that mean for us? It means that we are called to be holy, giving our all. We are called to be catholic, embracing all. We are called to be a communion, loving all. I believe that we are called to be a holy, catholic church, a true communion of saints. By God’s help, we will be! Amen